Wolves on Film
by Gordon Pasha
Summary: The wolves' lives are disrupted when a film crew comes to film a nature documentary in Jasper Park. However, what is at first an inconvenience soon turns dangerous when the humans take it upon themselves to make the film more exciting. Can the wolves get their unwelcome guests to leave before they cost the whole pack their lives? Part of A&O: The Series.
1. Perfect Day?

**This story is part of Alpha and Omega: The Series. If you like this story, please check out the other stories in the Series and follow the Series community and forum. **

**Credit goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves for beta-reading this story and for managing the Series in general. **

**Alpha and Omega and its characters are the property of Lionsgate and Crest Animation Studios. **

* * *

It was a lucky day for Kate. It was time for the daily hunt, and she had managed to locate a caribou that had somehow broken away from his herd. Kate carefully stalked toward him through the grass, making sure that she gave no hint of her presence. This caribou was apparently quite a bold individual because, despite being completely alone in the middle of wolf territory, he was peacefully chewing at the grass without the slightest hint of concern.

Bold or foolish, Kate thought. As long as the pack got fed, it didn't matter which.

Her ears quickly caught the sound of Hutch and Can-do, following behind her. She looked over her shoulder and nodded her head, signaling Hutch to circle around one way and Can-do the other. They would cut off any chance of escape. But Kate was going down the middle to tackle the caribou straight-on.

Humphrey sat patiently on a nearby ridge. Since his friends were all busy doing whatever they got up to when he wasn't around, Humphrey had decided to follow his mate and hopefully do something with her when the hunt was done. Knowing Kate, it wouldn't be a long one.

Kate snuck up on the caribou, perfectly concealing herself until the moment was exactly right. And then, she leapt into the air.

The caribou never saw it coming. She had him pinned to the ground and was perfectly poised to finish him off.

But just as she went for the kill, she noticed something strange. Just a few feet away was a pair of black shoes. Looking up, Kate saw that these shoes were attached to two legs which were in turn attached to a large, burly human towering over her. He was carrying some type of big black thing on his shoulder.

Kate was stunned; a human was staring down at her. She should have heard him coming, but she must have been too caught up in her kill to notice. She couldn't believe she had been so careless.

"Um, can I help you?" Kate said, more for lack of anything else to do than from actually believing the human would understand her.

"Get away from them, you buffoon!" came another human voice.

A younger man in khakis came over and started forcefully pulling the tall man away. "You're interrupting the action! Besides, you're getting in the shot of the other cameras!"

Kate now realized that the black thing on the big man's shoulder was a large hand-held camera and that it was focused directly on her.

Above them, Humphrey watched this scene with incredible interest. "A camera crew? Huh, I always wanted to be a movie star," he said quietly to himself.

Kate looked around at Hutch and Can-do, both still in their designated positions. 'Help,' she mouthed. But neither of them seemed to know what to do. So Kate just stared up at the camera and smiled nervously.

This didn't last long. The caribou, realizing that he was not currently being killed, recovered and jumped up, throwing Kate off of him and to the ground. Just as she realized what happened, the caribou launched a back hoof into her chest and she collapsed backward. His foe thus immobilized, the caribou made a quick getaway.

"Kate!" Humphrey screamed, his previous dreams of silver-screen glory all but forgotten. He ran down into the valley toward his wounded mate.

"This is excellent!" said the young man in charge of the camera crew. "We've got to capture this. Everybody, focus on that caribou!"

The big man now turned away from Kate. However, the caribou's triumph was short-lived, as he had the misfortune of running straight toward where Can-do was concealed. Can-do quickly brought him down.

"Kate, are you okay?" Humphrey said as he helped her get up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kate said as she steadied herself. "It wasn't as bad as it looked. I just got the wind knocked out of me, is all."

Kate was starting to regain herself when she noticed that, caribou being dead, all the cameras were now trained back on her and Humphrey.

Kate giggled nervously as she looked into the numerous cameras. "Humphrey, can we go?" she whispered.

"But don't you want to help with the caribou?" Humphrey asked.

"Now!" Kate said, more forcefully but still quietly.

"Okay, okay," Humphrey said. And then, he took a moment, to give an exaggerated bow for the cameras. Kate rolled her eyes as she walked away. As Humphrey followed her, he winked at the cameras over his shoulder.

They headed up the ridge, with Hutch and Can-do standing over the downed caribou and staring in disbelief.

"Kate, what's wrong?" Humphrey asked. "Why did you just freeze up like that?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Kate said gruffly.

"I mean, you never freeze up like that," Humphrey continued.

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Kate responded, practically yelling.

Humphrey suddenly smiled knowingly. "Oh, I get it, you're camera-shy!"

Kate didn't answer. She just grumbled something to herself.

"But how can you be camera-shy? I mean, you're never nervous about hunting caribou or stampedes or anything!"

"That's different," Kate said, slightly upset at Humphrey for dwelling on it. "When I'm out there, I just do what I have to do. It's just me and what I have to do. Nothing else exists at that moment. But when that guy stuck a camera in my face, I felt like I was being watched, like people were waiting for me to mess up!"

"But I watch you hunt all the time, Kate, and you never get nervous," Humphrey said.

Kate shook her head. "That's different. I know you and the rest of the pack. I don't have to prove anything. But with those humans recording my every move, I just felt like I couldn't focus anymore."

Humphrey didn't know what to say. He was partially pleased that his mate actually had some weaknesses, but he knew it wasn't the right thing to say to her face.

So he just said, "Cheer up, Kate. I'm sure they're just passing through. You'll see, a few days and they'll be gone!"

In the valley below, the young man smiled. "Our first day, and we're already getting some incredible stuff! Who knows what we'll get tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day! Boys, get settled, because we could be here for weeks, months even! I have a feeling we won't be leaving for a long, long time!"

* * *

**What does the presence of these new neighbors mean for the wolves of Jasper?**

**Read on.**


	2. The World Turned Upside-Down

**Chapter 2 of "Wolves on Film," part of Alpha and Omega: The Series**

**Credit for Editing and Beta-Reading goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves.**

* * *

The human crew had spent most of the last night setting up their camp on the perimeter of the valley. But they were still all up bright and early, largely because their young leader, Alexander Evans by name, had insisted upon it.

They were now filming a location shot of one of the many large hills in Jasper. From atop the hill, Humphrey peaked out at them unnoticed.

"Okay, perfect timing, boys," he said over his shoulder. "Now if we can just get this right, they won't be able to take their eyes – or those sweet camera lenses – off of us."

Behind him, Salty, Shakey, and Mooch were busy preparing a log for its slide down the mountain.

"Why do we want them to notice us again?" Salty said.

"Because then we'll be movie stars," Humphrey said. "We'll be famous! Just think of how great it'll be!"

"I don't know," Shakey said. "I never really wanted to be famous. It seems like a lot of work."

"Trust me, guys, it's easy!" Humphrey said. "Just follow my lead and everything'll be fine!"

The trio looked at each other, unsure of what to think.

Finally, Mooch spoke up. "Do you get a lot of food if you're famous?"

Humphrey smiled. "Yep."

He didn't really know if this was true, but he knew it would do the trick.

"Then what are we waiting for!" Mooch shouted. He quickly threw Salty and Shakey into the log and jumped in himself. Humphrey chuckled as he walked over and took his own seat at the front.

Below them, Evans was yelling at his sleepy crew. "No sleeping on the job! Come on, boys! We got to be alert if we're going to win an Emmy for this!"

The crew did not seem too enthusiastic until one of them noticed a log filled with floor wolves sliding right for them. "What's that?" he said.

"I don't know, but it's coming right at us!" shouted another.

They all tried to get out of harm's way, but Evans wouldn't have any of it. "No, stay there!" he shouted. "We're not running away when we've got something this good to film. In fact, I'll give twenty dollars to the first person that thing runs over!"

The crew reluctantly returned to their positions. They still did not want to be hit by a speeding wolf-filled log, but it was better than being stranded with no job in the Canadian wilderness.

But they were in luck, because as it happened, Garth and Lilly were out on a morning stroll and had just come to the side of this hill. Without noticing, they walked into the path of the oncoming log. A look of horror filled Humphrey's face and he rapidly forced the log to turn toward the right. "Hey, what gives?" shouted the three wolves behind him, being unable to see what he was doing or why.

Humphrey managed to move the log out of Garth and Lilly's path, but in doing so, he never noticed the large rock directly in the log's new path. The log hit it and was sent tumbling into the air, as were Humphrey and the trio.

Garth managed to push Lilly out of the way just before four Omegas came crashing down on top of him.

Meanwhile, the camera-crew's luck ran out. The log managed to land right on top of three of them and soon they were in a heap of their own with their camera equipment strewn all about.

Alexander Evans ran over. "You better not have broken anything, you buffoons! I didn't come out here for you to drop your cameras from the slightest bump!"

"Humphrey!" Garth shouted as he threw the four wolves off of him. Despite having the full weight of Mooch on his back, Garth did not have difficulty in jumping up and forcing the Omegas off of his back.

"You know that log-sliding from this hill is strictly prohibited!" Garth continued. "It's used so much by all the wolves of our pack that it's too dangerous to log-slide here! You could have killed us!"

Lilly, meanwhile, was trying to mentally recover from the scare of nearly being hit by the log or by the falling wolves.

"Sorry," Humphrey said sheepishly. "I didn't mean any harm! I was just trying to get on T.V.!"

"T.V.?" Garth and Lilly both said in surprise.

Humphrey pointed behind them. They both looked over their shoulders and saw several humans and cameras staring back at them

"Are they really filming us?" Lilly said, nervous but with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Humphrey nodded. "Uh-huh. I thought you'd know about it, since Kate told your parents last night."

Lilly shook her head. "We haven't seen mom and dad today."

"And besides," Garth said, "This news hasn't gotten to my dad or the Eastern Pack yet. If it did, I'm sure he'd be throwing a fit by now."

"Well, let's hope he doesn't find out any time soon," Humphrey joked. "But I'm sure they'll be gone before he notices. I don't think they're gonna stay that long. That's why we had to try and get 'discovered' before it was too late."

Garth rolled his eyes. But then he looked over his shoulder to see the cameras still trained on him. He smiled suddenly. He straightened himself up into his proudest Alpha pose and said in a booming voice, "Well, no harm done, I suppose, if they stay for a little while." He then winked at the cameras after saying it.

Now it was Humphrey's turn to roll his eyes. "Scene-stealer," he remarked.

Humphrey then noticed that Lilly was fidgeting next to Garth. It didn't surprise Humphrey that she would be shy around cameras.

"Okay, Garth, my turn, my turn!" Lilly said quickly, almost too quickly for anyone to understand.

'Her… turn?' Humphrey thought. 'What could she possibly mean by that? It can't mean what it sounds like, not from Lilly.'

But then Humphrey noticed Lilly starting to stand a lot taller and prouder. Something was up.

"And as for you, Humphrey," Lilly said, sounding almost exactly like her mate, "that still gives you and your friends no excuse to be playing around on this hill! Now I order all four of you to get out of here before I come up with a real punishment!"

Humphrey's jaw dropped. He looked over his shoulder to see that so had his three friends' jaws.

"Now!" Lilly shouted. Humphrey and co. didn't wait around to argue.

As Humphrey walked away, he heard Lilly say to Garth. "How did I do? How did I do? You know I've never been on camera before!"

"Um… perfect, honey," Garth said, apparently surprised himself.

Humphrey shook his head as he walked away from the scene. "Kate won't come out of our den because she's afraid of cameras, but Lilly's trying to hog the spotlight! It's like opposite day! I just hope that's as long as it lasts!"

* * *

**What is going to happen now that movie fever has spread throughout the pack?**

**Read on.**


	3. Pack Meeting

**Chapter 3 of "Wolves on Film," part of Alpha and Omega: The Series**

**Credit for Editing and Beta-Reading goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves.**

* * *

"Okay, this week, we have a few important matters to discuss," Winston said. He was conducting the weekly meeting of the leaders of both packs. Eve was sitting next to him and Garth, Lilly, and Humphrey were sitting in a circle opposite them.

"First," Winston continued. "I've gotten a few reports from Hutch and Can-do about Eastern wolves entering the caribou fields between hunts. Tony, do you know anything about this?"

Winston did not get a response. He looked around and saw that Tony was not there. "Garth, where is your father?"

"He couldn't make it today," Garth said. "His back's been really out of joint the past few days, so our healers are keeping him in his den for a while. They want him to avoid putting too much pressure on it."

Winston nodded. Tony had never missed a pack meeting before, bad back or no, but Winston knew that Tony also wanted to give his son a chance to handle more responsibility. "Okay, then Garth, you'll have to take care of that."

"Understood!" Garth said. For some reason, he practically shouted it while looking over his shoulder. "I have to make sure they get my good side," Garth whispered to the others.

"But, honey, every side's your good side!" Lilly said, also loudly and also looking over her shoulder. She then paused for a second as though waiting for a response.

"Is that supposed to get a laugh track?" Humphrey grumbled.

Something strange was going on, but Winston decided to ignore it. Who knows what the younger generation was getting into these days? Winston figured he was too old to start worrying about it now.

"Um, alright, second," Winston began. "I've been informed by Hutch that he and Can-do have had to do all the hunting themselves this week, without their hunt leader. Now, Kate, you know that that is always your responsibility. Quite frankly, I'm disappointed that you would… Kate?"

Winston suddenly realized that there was only one daughter in his little circle. The other one was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Kate?" Winston said in concern. "It's not like her to miss a pack meeting!"

"I'm right here, dad," came Kate's voice from nearby. Winston looked over to see his daughter's light brown eyes staring back at him from underneath a large bush.

"Kate, this is no time to be playing in the foliage!" he scolded. "What has gotten into you? Come out of there this instant!"

"No," Kate answered sheepishly.

"No?" Winston said, getting visibly upset. "No? Listen here, young lady–"

"Don't be too hard on Kate, dad," Lilly said with a smile. "She's been under a lot of stress lately!"

"Now, Lilly, no matter how much stress she's under, she has no–"

"I was just saying that you can't expect everyone to always do everything right," Lilly continued, interrupting her father. "Why not cut her some slack? She works hard enough for the pack as it is."

"Kate, Lilly, what's gotten into both of you?" Winston said in exasperation. "You two were always so well-behaved! Now Kate is refusing to obey my orders and Lilly is talking back to me! What is going on here? Eve, lend me a paw or something!"

"Now, Winston, I don't think you should be so hard on the girls," Eve said in an incredibly sweet, motherly tone. "They're still almost pups! You can't blame them if they don't remember every little point of etiquette."

Winston's jaw dropped. Eve loved her daughters as much as any mother would, but even she wasn't in the habit of babying them this much. She preferred to show her love by threatening to brutally murder anyone who she considered a threat to them.

"Kate, get out here!" Winston yelled, as he had no idea what else to do.

Kate slowly, reluctantly pulled herself out of the bush and came toward the central circle. Along the way, however, she was so busy looking anxiously behind the circle that she accidently put one foot in the way of the other and tripped, falling hard to the ground.

Winston was about to offer some comforting words when Lilly interrupted him again.

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt!" Lilly said loudly. "You okay, sis?"

"Lilly, stop interrupting me!" Winston yelled. "Now, Kate, what is the matter with you?"

"Sorry, dad," Kate said as she sat down next to Humphrey, with her face hanging low. "It's just that, with the cameras, I can't really focus…"

"Cameras, what cameras?" Winston said. Then he looked up to see Alexander Evans and his entire crew carefully filming everything the wolves were doing. "Huh, how did I not see those before?"

Winston looked to his mate and saw Eve smiling sweetly into the cameras. Garth and Lilly kept looking over their shoulders to make sure the cameras were still on them, while Kate was trying to hide herself behind Humphrey. Humphrey looked annoyed that everyone else was hogging the attention; Winston knew he'd want to have it all to himself.

"Um, yes," Winston said, trying to recover himself. "Kate told us about the camera-crew… but I never expected them to actually interrupt a pack-meeting. So, um, I guess… any suggestions as to what we might do about it?"

"They seem fine to me," Garth said with another smile in their direction. "I think we should let them stay."

"No, I think they should be gone! They're a danger to the pack!" Kate said quietly from behind her mate. Every so often, she'd peek out to see if the cameras were still there.

"Don't worry, Kate," Lilly said. "If they do anything bad, mom'll just pull out their teeth and use them to dig out their lungs! Right, mom?"

Eve shook her head. "No, Lilly, we wouldn't ever want to do anything like that! There might be children watching this, after all!"

Humphrey rolled his eyes.

All this was giving Winston a headache. He was at his wit's end. "Okay, okay, everybody keep an eye on them for now. Meeting adjourned. I need to go lie down…"

Winston was rarely at such a loss about what to do, but with all the other pack leaders acting so strange because of the camera-crew, he couldn't see much he could do. Maybe he'd talk to Tony about it later.

Winston sighed. He never thought he'd see the day when Tony would seem like the most rational wolf in the valley.

* * *

Alexander Evans had called off his crew after Winston had left. None of them could understand why.

"But, boss, we were getting some good shots there! Look at all the wolves we captured!" said Lou, the big camera-man.

"That's exactly the problem!" Evans shouted. "We're getting a ton of shots… of wolves sitting in a circle! What type of nature documentary is that?"

"But we got some good stuff!" said Gary, a small blond camera-man. He showed Evans the view-screen of his shoulder-camera, which was playing the footage of Kate tripping over her own legs on a continuous loop. It got quite a laugh from most of the crew. Alexander Evans was not amused.

"Listen to me!" Evans yelled. "What do you think people expect to see when they watch a nature documentary? Wolves sitting in circles and tripping over themselves? No! They want action! Excitement! Battles to the death! Predator vs. prey! Robots!"

"Robots?" said his crew all together.

"And we would have robots too, if Uncle Albert had just given me enough of a budget!" Evans complained. "But we don't got any robots, so we'll have to make do with life-or-death struggles. This place started out exciting but now it's gotten boring. So we're gonna jazz it up a bit!"

Evans now picked up a large rock and started bouncing it up and down in his palm.

"What are you gonna do, boss?" Lou said.

"It's simple. We're gonna create our own life-and-death struggle! Just think: wolves battling incredible odds to save one of their own! The ratings will go through the roof for sure! Emmy, here I come!"

The crew was unsure about this. "Excuse me, sir," Gary said, "But isn't it unethical to put a protected species purposefully in harm's way?"

Evans chuckled. "Of course not! It's not like we're harming humans here! They're just dumb animals! What are they gonna do, hire a lawyer?"

"Okay, boss," Lou said. "But how we gonna get one in danger."

"Watch and learn," Evans said with an evil smile.

Just as he had been talking, Candy had wandered that way picking flowers. When she stopped to smell one, Evans pulled back his arm and quickly threw the rock into the side of her head. Candy fell over, completely knocked out.

"Okay, boys, go get it and follow my lead!" Evans said.

* * *

**What is Alexander Evans' devious plan?**

**Read on.**


	4. Life-and-Death

**Chapter 4 of "Wolves on Film," part of Alpha and Omega: The Series**

**Credit for Editing and Beta-Reading goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves.**

* * *

Lilly and Garth made their way through the underbrush as they headed toward Tony's den. Behind them followed Lou with a camera and an assistant.

"I still don't get why the boss thinks we should keep a lookout for robots," the assistant said.

"You can find robots in nature," Lou said, "just like any other animal."

"But robots aren't natural, they're artificial," the assistant argued. "Ain't you ever heard of artificial intelligence?"

"Yeah," said Lou, "but where do you find the materials to make all those chips and stuff? Nature. So since the artificial stuff comes from nature, it makes sense that you'd be able to find robots here too."

Much equally philosophical dialogue followed, but it was all the same to the red and white wolves that walked ahead. Garth and Lilly were well-aware of the two humans following them, but this was one time Garth wished they would go elsewhere.

Finally, seeing his father's den up ahead. Garth turned to Lilly. "Okay, now I have to make sure dad doesn't get wind of any of this documentary business. You know what he's like when his back is acting up."

"He overreacts to stuff," Lilly said helpfully, though loudly. Garth was getting somewhat annoyed of how his mate seemed intent on saying everything loud enough for the cameras to catch. This time was worse, though, since she practically shouted in his ear.

After recovering, Garth nodded hastily, hoping she wouldn't add anymore. Luckily for him, even under the spotlight, Lilly seemed content with not talking too much and didn't say anything else.

So Garth continued, "Yeah, he's already in a bad mood. But as long as he stays in his den like the healers told him, we'll be fine."

"Then what's the problem?"

After Garth recovered from once again having Lilly shout in his ear, he answered, "The problem is that he doesn't like to be confined to his den. He'll look for any excuse to get out and back with the pack. So we're gonna have to check in on him and make sure he isn't trying to leave."

"Oh, okay!"

Garth felt like his eardrums were going to burst. He probably should not walk so close to Lilly, he thought, until the humans leave…

But now Garth looked over his shoulder at the camera crew and then back to Lilly as he spoke. "Actually, I was thinking I'd talk to dad since he can be, uh, difficult when he's in one of his moods. I figured maybe you could distract the humans. I don't want them following me into dad's den and letting him know what's up."

"I could do my turtle impersonations!"

Garth quickly put his paws over his ears. "Yeah, honey, you could do those."

Thankfully, Tony's den was practically right in front of them.

"Okay, honey," Garth said, "I'm gonna go see dad now. You distract the humans."

Garth quickly made for his father's den while Lilly turned toward distracting the humans. She barked to get their attention and then just sat there, wagging her tail like a dog. It worked; the humans now focused all their attention on her.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the valley, two humans were carefully laying out Candy's body. Nearby, Gary and Alexander Evans were surveying the whole scene.

"Okay, what are we doing?" Gary said.

Alexander Evans rolled his eyes. "Buffoon, it's obvious! See, we're positioning this helpless wolf here, while I've got some guys at the other end of the valley stirring up the caribou herd. So then there's a stampede and this wolf is caught right in its path. If it wakes up in time, it will try to run away, and we can film it as it tries to escape."

"And if it doesn't wake up?" Gary asked.

"Must I put all the pieces together for you? If it doesn't wake up, it will be mercilessly trampled by about a hundred caribou and die in a completely agonizing and brutal way… which also makes for good television. So either way, we get what we want."

One of the assistants signaled to Evans after they had positioned Candy in the right spot.

"Well, it's time for me to get out of here," Evans said. "That stampede is gonna start any minute and I have to be up there with the cameras to catch it."

Evans began to leave, followed by Gary. Realizing that Gary was right behind him, Evans immediately stopped. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked Gary.

"I'm going with you," Gary said. "We gotta get outta here before the stampede comes."

Evans shook his head in annoyance. "You're not going anywhere. I need somebody on the ground to cover the stampede close up. So you're staying with the wolf."

Gary's jaw dropped in disbelief. "But… but… I'll be stampeded by the caribou!"

"Not my problem," Evans said as he walked away. "You signed the waiver saying that we're not liable for any injury you may sustain."

"I didn't know we were so supposed to actually read that!" Gary cried.

"Again, not my problem," Evans said.

* * *

Garth stepped into his father's den, which was dark and cool compared to the warm day outside. In the middle of the den lay Tony, who was trying to force himself to his feet.

"Dad, are you trying to leave again?" Garth said knowingly.

"I can't take being cooped up here, Garth," Tony said. "I have duties to perform."

"You know I can take those over until you're feeling better," Garth responded. "But you need to follow the healers' orders and rest for a few days."

"Since when does my son get to tell his father what he can and can't do?" Tony snapped. "What do those healers know, anyway? So what if this dang back is giving me some problems. That's the same as always."

"But you know it sometimes gets really bad," Garth said politely. He knew not to take his father's outbursts personally.

Tony tried to push past Garth. "Well, laying around isn't going to make it any better! It'll just give me bed sores. Besides, I need some fresh air!"

Garth quickly blocked his path and gently tried to lead him back to where he had been laying. "But, dad, you'll feel better if you just take it easy."

Tony pulled away and continued toward the entrance. Garth internally began to panic as he though his father might actually get out and see the cameras.

"Nonsense, Garth," Tony said. "I as fine as I ever was– Oooohhh!"

As they both should have expected, the contest between them had put too much strain on Tony's back. Garth quickly grabbed him and helped him lie back down.

Outside the den, the men heard Tony's scream and Lou began to focus his camera in that direction. Lilly realized that she needed to do something more than sit and wag her tail, so she ran up to the assistant and began to playfully nip at his shirt, grabbing it and trying to drag him away from the den.

"Ah, help, it's trying to eat me!" the assistant shouted. This caused Lou to turn the camera toward him and Lilly. "Get it off me!"

"No way!" Lou responded. "The boss said that if any of us get attacked and mauled by the wolves that our first priority is to make sure we get it all on film. Besides, you signed that waiver, too."

Lilly let go of the man's shirt. But she had gotten what she had wanted; the camera was focused on her. Now she had to figure out what to do with the spotlight.

Lilly backed up and thought for a moment. Finally, she fell to the ground. "What am I?" she asked.

* * *

Down at the far side of the valley, Alexander Evans was carefully combing his hair in preparation for filming. A number of cameras were in front of him, while below him on the valley floor, his assistants were busy trying to frighten the caribou herd into action. Finally, after much prodding, the caribou began to move.

"Okay, quickly, quickly, turn on the cameras!" Evans yelled. In response, the cameras were quickly turned on.

Evans now tried to put on his best "nature host" persona and spoke into the cameras. "Just as we've been filming here," he said, "by complete coincidence, a caribou stampede has broken out."

Behind him, the cameras caught glimpses of the assistants down below running around in order to scare up the caribou. "What do you mean, complete coincidence?" one of the camera-men said. "We can still see some of our guys down there!"

Evans rolled his eyes and sighed. "We'll edit them out in postproduction, nitwits! Honestly, I'm the only person who knows how to make a documentary here!"

He then resumed his role as host. "Now, we just managed to discover that a lone wolf has been caught in the path of these raging animals. If he doesn't get out of the way soon, he won't possibly be able to survive."

The humans now safely out of the way, the provoked caribou charged down the valley, on a straight path toward where Candy lay.

* * *

Kate and Humphrey were walking along one of the ridges above the valley. Just as with Lilly and Garth, two humans and one camera followed closely behind. Kate kept her head down, trying to ignore and avoid the camera as much as possible.

Humphrey on the other hand, was playing up the attention. Whenever he got the chance, he looked over his shoulder and did funny faces for the camera.

"We have to stop these humans somehow," Kate said quietly. "They're disrupting everything in the valley."

"Oh, come on, Kate," Humphrey said. "They're not that bad! Other than you and your dad, everybody's really taken to the spotlight! I mean, I can barely get a moment in it myself!"

He then flashed another funny face at the camera.

"No, I just have a bad feeling about these humans," Kate continued. "I'm not too keen on human campers in Jasper at the best of times, but these humans, actually watching us, every moment of the day… Don't you think that's kinda creepy?"

"Ah, you're just being paranoid, Kate," Humphrey said. "I guess it comes with being an Alpha and all. You don't know how to relax and go with the flow like… an Omega!"

When he said these last two words, Humphrey turned and threw out his forelegs in an "I'm so great" pose for the camera. Kate responded by elbowing him, knocking him off balance and causing him to lose his balance. Realizing what she had done, Kate quickly grabbed him to help him get steady, but Humphrey was already too far off-balance and ended up just pulling Kate down with him.

The camera-man laughed.

"Finally," Humphrey said from under Kate. "Do you know how long I've been trying to get a laugh out of these guys? I was beginning to think humans were born without a sense of humor!"

Kate just shook her head in disgust and embarrassment as the two wolves got up. But before they could continue their conversation, they were interrupted.

"Kate, Kate, you gotta help!" shouted Sweets as she ran toward them. "Candy's gone missing and I can't find her anywhere!"

That's when they heard the sounds of a thunderous caribou stampede tearing through the valley, followed closely by screams – Candy's screams. Candy had regained consciousness but was apparently she was too weak to escape and could only yell for help as the waves of caribou approached her.

Kate knew what she had to do. Cameras or no cameras, she had to save Candy. So, without another word, Kate literally sprang into action, launching herself off the ground with the ease of an Olympic athlete. She twirled perfectly in the air and glided down toward the valley below. All she needed to do was ricochet off enough rocks to maintain a safe descent, get to Candy and get out. All in a day's work, really.

That is, until a sideway twirl of hers gave her a perfect view of the camera intently scrutinizing her every move. This so preoccupied her that she did not notice the low-hanging tree branch which soon enough made contact with her skull and sent her falling to the ground.

But her misfortune was not over yet. Instead of flying over the slope down to the valley, she was sent tumbling down it, hitting rocks and trees as she went. The experience was made all the more painful by the fact that the momentum she had stored up was causing her to speed down the slope at an incredible rate. Worse of all, however, was that she was heading toward a small cliff. If she fell off that cliff, not only would landing on the valley floor almost certainly break a few bones, it would also put her right in the path of the caribou stampede.

"Kate!" Humphrey screamed in terror as he saw her speed toward the cliff.

* * *

Lou and his assistant were watching in disbelief as Lilly lay on her back, waving her legs above her wildly. "It's a turtle who fell and can't get up!" she said proudly. "Get it?"

"I think we've got a mad wolf on our hands," the assistant said. "We should get out of here before it attacks us again!"

"But the boss says we have to keep the cameras focused on these wolves to see how they responded when–" Lou was quickly interrupted by the sound of the caribou and Candy's screams. He quickly turned his camera on that.

Lilly heard the sounds too. She stopped her impersonation and rolled right side up, looking to see what was wrong. She saw Candy and expected to see Kate swooping to the rescue at any moment. But Kate did not come. She was not going to come, Lilly realized. So, with a look of determination in her eyes, Lilly jumped to her feet and ran toward the valley. The humans followed.

* * *

As Garth came out of his father's den, he expected to see Lilly still fending off the camera with her turtle tricks. Instead he came face to face with Winston.

"Winston, what are you doing here?" Garth said in surprise and alarm.

"I'm here to have a talk with your father if that's alright," Winston said. "He's not giving you too much trouble, is he?"

Winston tried to peer over Garth's shoulder into the cave, but Garth quickly stepped back into his line of vision. While normally he would have been appreciative of his father-in-law's sympathy, Garth couldn't let Winston speak to Tony and let slip about the camera-crew.

"Um, well, the healers say it's best if dad doesn't worry himself with pack business for a while," Garth said. "If there's anything that you need to talk with him about, I can handle it for him."

Winston smiled. "No, Garth, that's alright. I just thought I'd come see my old friend and have a nice little chat. I'm sure he'd appreciate the company. I know how he hates to be cooped up in his den like this."

Garth smiled nervously and quickly tried to think of a comeback. "Um, yeah, but I really think he should just rest for now! I don't want him overdoing things!"

"Now, Garth, I won't be debating him," Winston said, more forcefully this time. "It's just a friendly chat!"

But before this could go any farther, these two also heard the noises from the valley and looked down. Anxiety took hold of them as they saw Candy in harm's way.

"There's a wolf in trouble down there and that stampede is coming quick!" Garth said.

But Winston then caught sight of a lupine blur jumping from caribou to caribou. He began to relax. "Oh, but it looks like Kate's already taking care of it."

Garth now noticed that neither his mate nor the cameras were anywhere to be seen. And then he noticed that the blur jumping on the caribous' backs was more white than tan.

"Um, Winston," he said, "that's not Kate…."

Winston and Garth looked at each other in alarm and then back to the valley as the full horror of what was happening dawned on them. "Lilly!" they shouted together.

* * *

Lilly jumped from caribou to caribou through the herd. She was showing more graceful agility than anyone had ever seen from her. What no one realized was how exhausting it was. For an Alpha like Kate, it was no problem to do this – just a part of the job – but an Omega like Lilly would tire themselves out before long. And that's what was happening.

Lilly sat on the caribou for a few seconds catching her breath. Even with the adrenaline rush that came from having the cameras on her, she had to admit that this was not easy. But she knew she had no time to lose because the caribou were coming closer and closer to Candy with each second. So she looked around to find a near-enough caribou that she could reach with little effort. She saw one running not too far away and she decided to go for it.

Using all of her strength, Lilly launched herself off the one caribou and toward the other. However, without an Alpha's training or stamina and having weakened herself considerably through the exertion, Lilly came down too short and missed the caribou completely. A split-second later, she was blindsided by the next caribou and fell down into the stampede, disappearing into the cloud of dust the caribou were frantically kicking up.

* * *

**What happened to Lilly and Kate?**

**Read on.**


	5. Saving Candy and Facing Death

**Finally, Chapter 4 of "Wolves on Film," part of Alpha and Omega: The Series. What has it been, nearly a month since I promised it was coming out "soon"? Right in the middle of a massive cliff-hanger, too. Well, better late than never, right? Right?**

**Credit for Editing and Beta-Reading goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves.**

* * *

Humphrey realized that there wasn't a moment to lose. Looking around quickly, he spotted a fallen-over log. He leapt for it and, once he got hold of it, without stopping, he rolled himself and the log around so that he landed inside of it.

Now the log was speeding down the incline. Humphrey used all of his skill to work up enough speed and steer the thing toward Kate. Luckily, he had been able to make himself faster than his tumbling mate and was soon catching up to her. Finally, he had reached her and, sending out his paw, he grabbed her and managed to pull her into the makeshift chariot as well.

Both wolves let out a sigh of relief now that Kate was safely with Humphrey.

"Thanks, Humphrey, that was quick thinking," Kate said as she relaxed herself and leaned against him.

Humphrey smiled at the compliment and the feeling of Kate's mane brushing against his chest. "What can I say? Those camera-guys needed a daring action hero for their movie and I was just the wolf for the job. I do all my own stunts, you know."

Kate laughed, but it quickly faded as she looked in front of her. Her body shot up and Humphrey, even without seeing her face, could tell something was wrong.

"What is it?" Humphrey asked.

"You didn't think this out very much, did you?" Kate said apprehensively.

"What do you mean? Of course I thought it out." Humphrey tilted his head to the side so that he could see past Kate. And then he saw what she was referring to.

The log, with both Kate and Humphrey still inside it, was tearing toward the cliff and was going too fast for them to stop it or jump out in time.

"Okay, maybe there were a few itty-bitty details I overlooked," Humphrey said.

A moment later, Humphrey and Kate's screams filled the air as they went flying over the cliff and down toward the valley floor far below.

* * *

Lilly coughed as the she tried to see through the dust all around her. She could just barely make out Candy through the clouds of dust, but she could still tell that she was moving dangerously closer with every passing second.

Lilly didn't want to let go. She was clutching the back leg of one of the caribou, holding on for dear life. She had managed to grab hold of one and pull herself to it a split-second before she would have crashed into the ground and been trampled in the stampede. Now, this ride was a frightening experience but not nearly as frightening as that would have been.

But she had to reach Candy, she just had to. Lilly was not going to let anyone die on her watch. Her sister wasn't the only one who could be heroic, and now – thanks to those camera-men – the world was going to see it.

Just as the caribou's foreleg got close enough to grab, Lilly took hold and was sent flying as the leg continued to gyrate up and down, back and forth. She did not fight this; it was just what she had hoped would happen, because it gave her the momentum she needed, to reach another caribou, further ahead than this one. She grabbed onto the back leg of this caribou and then its foreleg, again being sent flying to the next caribou. She did this several times until she finally made it to the front of the stampede.

Now Lilly had a problem. There would be no further caribou after this one for her to swing to. She would be at the front of the charge, but that wouldn't get her to Candy on time. She would need to put in a little extra effort this time to make it to her friend. The thought of what she had to do terrified Lilly more than anything so far. She knew everything just had to be perfect, all the conditions had to be right, or else she would suffer a terrible and inevitable death under the hooves of over a hundred panicking caribou.

But she had to try.

Lilly swung to the caribou's back leg and then, without missing a beat, swung herself to the foreleg. And now, she hoped that she had worked up enough momentum for what was going to come next. Just as she grabbed the foreleg, Lilly closed her eyes.

"Here goes nothing," she said. And then, putting all of her strength into it, she swung herself away from the caribou and toward Candy's direction.

* * *

"Come on, come on, hurry up!" Alexander Evans shouted to his camera-crew. He was running on a high ridge perpendicular to the valley, allowing him to stay in step with the caribou without having to actually put himself in danger. Luckily for him, he was an athletic man who could easily make the run.

His camera-crew was not so lucky, largely because they were being weighed down by all the cameras and film equipment which Evans insisted that they carry the whole time. Evans wanted his high-angle shots to keep pace with the caribou and so insisted that the already-burdened crew keep filming as they ran.

"I should have invested the money in a dolly," Alexander Evans said as he came to a stop overlooking where Candy lay. "Then maybe we could do this scene with a simulacrum of competence!"

He turned around to berate his crew for their perceived incompetence but was in for a nasty surprise. The whole crew, busy trying to catch the caribou running below and beside them, were unable to look in front of them and thus had no idea that their leader had stopped running. Evans had no chance to get away. Soon, the first camera-man collided with him, and then the second camera-man collided with the pair, and the third camera-man, and so on and so. Pretty soon, a pyramid of men and broken camera-equipment had formed on the ridge overlooking the valley.

* * *

Gary, not too far from Candy, was catching the oncoming stampede with his camera. The footage was not likely to be that great, considering that Gary was holding it on his shoulder while trying to dig a trench for safety with his other hand, but it would have to do. Gary was not about to get himself killed by caribou, no matter what Alexander Evans said.

However, the loud crash above managed to distract Gary's attention from his mediocre attempt to escape fate. Fortunately, his camera was still focused on the stampede, so it was able to capture the white blur which Gary never noticed speeding toward him.

Alexander Evans would have been proud, had he not been trying to dig himself out of the large pile of men and equipment on top of him.

Gary turned back just in time to scream as Lilly torpedoed into him. The force of impact was so great that they were both sent flying. Gary was launched back into the cliff wall, getting knocked unconscious and falling on top of his camera. It would record nothing but the color of his shirt from now on. But at least he was now safely out of the way of the caribou.

Alexander Evans would have been furious, had he not still been trying to dig himself out of the large pile of men and equipment on top of him.

Lilly herself, landed next to Candy.

"Lilly?" Candy said in surprise. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to save you!" Lilly said, jumping to her feet and doing her best to act heroic.

But then she noticed something was wrong. With Gary, Alexander Evans, and the rest taken out, no cameras were focusing on her. Lilly's mind went blank; she had no idea what she was supposed to do now. Without the cameras to give her confidence, she reverted into a shy Omega once again.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Lilly screamed in Candy's face.

Candy was confused. "I don't know… It was your plan…."

Lilly and Candy held onto each other, bracing for impact. But then, a large log came out of the sky and hit the ground between them and the caribou. Humphrey and Kate were jolted out of the log and landed right in front of Lilly and Candy.

Both wolves jumped and looked behind them to see the caribou fast closing in.

"Gee, you think this could have turned out any worse?" Humphrey asked.

"Lilly, what are you doing here?" Kate said, horrified that her little sister was now in danger too.

"I came to save Candy," Lilly answered.

"Lilly, that's my job!" Kate said.

"It's mine, too!" Lilly said.

Kate tilted her head in surprise, questioning her sister without saying a word.

"Well, it is now…" Lilly added.

"Any ideas, Kate?" Humphrey asked, watching the caribou approach.

"I can't concentrate, not with humans around!" Kate said in response. Even though she wasn't being filmed, the mere presence of the humans and cameras was too much for her.

"We're doomed," Humphrey said.

But then Lilly looked at the log. She remembered this. An idea clicked in her mind. "What if we make like turtles?"

"Please, Lilly," Kate chided, "this is no time for your turtle impersonations!"

"I think she's got a point," Humphrey said, catching on. "Follow me, I've got an idea!"

The four wolves ran over to the log and Humphrey signaled for the other three to crawl inside. He then crawled in at the head. The order was Humphrey, Kate, Lilly, and Candy.

"Is your plan just to hide in here, Humphrey?" Kate said. "At the rate those caribou are going, I don't think this log's going to be able to hold out to them."

"Maybe not," Humphrey said. "But I think I know what it's going to do. Everybody, grab onto the sides of the log and don't let go for anything. Then push your backs up to the wood and keep your bodies pressed against it. Don't slack no matter what!"

"Humphrey, if this gets us killed, I'm going to kill you," Kate said.

"And then mom will," Lilly added helpfully. "Then she'll probably kill Garth too. Just for good measure."

"I don't want… to die…." Candy sobbed.

"Well, I'll already be dead, so I won't have to worry too much about it," Humphrey observed. "But, everybody, just do what I say… and get ready for the roller coaster ride of your life!"

Just as he said this, the caribou reached the log. They were going so fast that, as the wolves had predicted, the log did not block nor stop them. Instead, when the caribou reached it, their legs managed to kick it up with all the dust and send it flying into the air.

The log flipped over in the air, so that the wolves were now right-side up, and came down upon the back of some of the caribou. It bounced off these and landed on a few others, promptly bouncing off toward still other caribou, and so on and so on. But the caribou were all too spooked to notice and just kept running. And the log bounced up and down upon the wave of caribou, seeming like it would never stop.

"We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!" Candy shouted, her words running together so that there seemed to be no spaced between them.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Lilly said.

"Lilly, don't throw up in the log!" Kate said.

"I don't know if I can hold it, sis!"

"Then throw up on Candy, not me!"

"Hey, this is pretty awesome!" Humphrey said. "Maybe I can get Salty, Shakey, and Mooch interested in this!"

"What do we do now?" Kate asked Humphrey.

"We just wait!" Humphrey said. "We should be fine as long as…."

He broke off when he heard a cracking sound.

"As long as?" Kate asked.

The cracking became much, much louder. Humphrey looked down to see cracks starting to break the log in three.

"As long as that doesn't happen!" Humphrey shouted as his and Kate's piece of the log broke off from Lilly and Candy's piece. Immediately afterward, Lilly's piece broke away from Candy's.

The now-three logs bounced up and down along the caribou stampede, each going in its own direction.

"We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!" Candy kept shouting.

"She is such a drama queen," Humphrey said, rolling his eyes as his and Kate's log took a particularly large bounce.

Kate, not feeling it was the time for humor, gently but firmly slapped the back of his head.

Finally, with a mighty bounce, all three logs were sent flying in different directions.

Candy held on a tightly as wolfishly possible as her log spun wildly through the sky. Finally, she came down, her log slamming into Sweets. It took Sweets a few seconds to come to, but when she did, she saw Candy laying in the log on top of her, her claws on all four feet digging into the sides. Sweets dug herself out from under the log and pulled Candy out as well. She gave Candy a giant hug.

"Candy, you're safe!" she said in delight.

"S-s-s-sweets?" Candy said, realizing for the first time she was once again on solid ground. "I'm… I'm… I'm safe? I'm not gonna die?"

"Nope!"

"In that case, get off of me! You're seriously messing up my hair!" Candy responded, pushing Sweets away and trying to make sure her mane was still alright.

Lilly tumbled out of her log and sailed right into Winston and Garth, knocking them both to the ground.

It took her a few moments to realize what had happened, but then it finally occurred to her that she was laying on top of her father, who must have arrived while she was gone.

"Hi, dad!" she said.

Kate and Humphrey were sent flying in their log to the opposite side of the valley, where Alexander Evans had finally managed to dig himself out of the human-technical pile-up.

"You first-rate Neanderthal buffoons!" he yelled. "I give you a simple task to do and now you ruin it completely! It's like I'm working with amateurs!"

"But… we are amateurs," one of them said from the pile. "You… said you'd give us college credit if we volunteered…."

"Hmph! Well, you can forget about that!" Alexander Evans said. "But, what are you all still doing on the ground? Get up and get back to work! If we didn't catch that stampede on camera, I'm going to personally ensure you never work on this continent again! Quit laying around already! You don't see me laying around when there's work to do!"

He turned around just in time to see the log make contact with his forehead, sending him, Kate, and Humphrey into the pile-up below.

As Kate dug her way out she said, "That's it, these movie-makers have to go!"

* * *

A few minutes later, at Tony's den, Garth and Winston had just departed with Lilly. She said she was fine, but they both insisted that Eve needed to take a look at her to make sure she was alright.

"Garth, are you still there?" Tony called from inside the den. "I thought I heard Winston. Garth? It also sounded like a caribou stampede! Garth, are you listening to me?"

Tony limped out into the sunlight, having forced himself out almost by will alone. "What is going on around here?"

Tony realized that neither Garth nor Winston were anywhere around. He looked down into the valley, but there was no longer anybody, wolf or caribou, down there. Everything was calm and quiet. Tony gave one last look around and then hobbled back into his den.

"First my back, now my hearing's starting to go!" Tony complained as he disappeared back into the darkness. "Maybe the healers are right after all; I need some rest. Besides, it's not like there's anything important going on around here anyway."

* * *

**What will the wolves do about their 'guests'?**

**Read on.**


	6. Pause

**Chapter 6 of "Wolves on Film," part of Alpha and Omega: The Series**

**Credit for Editing and Beta-Reading goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves.**

* * *

"I'm okay, mom, really!" Lilly said as she sat in her parents' den. Eve was busy pushing back her daughter's fur and applying a green ointment she had made up from some nearby shrubs.

"You are not okay, young lady," Eve said sternly as she discovered a particularly bad bruise on Lilly's fair skin. "Look at this, you practically got yourself killed here. What would ever prompt you to do something so foolish?"

Lilly was right, the injuries were not as bad as they appeared. Her skin, being so delicate, had always bruised incredibly easily and so it was no surprise that after her adventure she was now bruised from head to paw. Lilly knew that the injuries were literally only skin deep, but convincing her mother of the fact was a different matter.

"I… I was just trying to help save Candy," Lilly said, looking away from Eve's glare. Even though she was now an adult, just a hint of disapproval in either of her parents' voices could make her feel guilty.

"It's not your job to save Candy," Eve chided. "That is an Alpha's responsibility. That is Kate's responsibility."

"B-b-but Kate was nowhere around," Lilly said, trying to justify herself but not wanting to sound disrespectful. Here in her parents' den, far from the cameras, she was becoming her, shy, quiet self again.

Lilly cringed as Eve rubbed in more of the stinging ointment. "I don't care if your sister wasn't around," Eve said. "It was an Alpha's job, not yours. If anything, your mate should have been the first one to take charge of the situation. Of course, he never should have let you out of his sight in the first place."

As Eve said these words, she stopped rubbing in the ointment and slowly turned her eyes away from Lilly toward Garth, who was standing at the den entrance with Winston. Garth immediately began to squirm under her murderous glare. He felt sick as he just knew Eve was thinking of all the ways she could dismember him for his misdeed.

"Hey, I had to go see dad," Garth blurted out in panic. "I was in there when this all happened. So, really–"

Eve let out a loud growl that basically meant 'Shut up or I'll rip your head off.' As Garth fell into a stunned silence, she responded. "Well, why wasn't Lilly with you when you went to see your father? She should be in your sight at all times, especially with those… those humans… in the valley!"

Winston now walked slowly forward. "Eve, dear, you know what Tony's like when his back goes out. I'm sure Garth was just trying to keep Lilly safe from one of his father's temper tantrums. After all, he had no idea what the humans were up to."

Winston knew that Garth had left Lilly outside to keep the camera-crew distracted; he had already figured out as much by the time Garth confessed everything to him as they were bringing Lilly back. While he personally agreed that Garth had been reckless, he knew that Eve butchering his son-in-law would not help anyone right now.

"Eve?" Winston asked, trying to get his mate's attention. Eve had not broken her evil gaze at Garth in the whole time Winston was talking.

"What?" Eve said, suddenly shaking herself out of it. "Oh, yes, dear. I suppose you're right. Tony can be such a brute at times. I wish he was more relaxed about things like I am."

"If anything, it's those humans we should blame," Winston said, secretly relieved he had defused another Eve meltdown.

Eve sighed as she found another particularly bad bruise on Lilly's back. "Yes, the humans…. I wish I could just get my claws on them… bare my sharp, sharp teeth… and then, then… give them a very stern talking to about this!"

Winston, Garth, and Lilly all looked from one to the other in shock. They were used to the graphic nature of Eve's threats by now, but none of them were ready to hear her suggest something so mild.

Lilly was the first one to speak up. "Um, mom, I'm not suggesting this or anything, but… wouldn't you rather tear their spleens out through their ears?"

"Lilly, I honestly don't know where you pick up such language," Eve said disapprovingly, casting a suspicious sideways glance at Garth, who quickly hid behind Winston. "You know I don't approve of all the violence on television these days and I'm not about to add to it. We have to think of the children, dear."

At this moment, the wolves heard pawsteps on the path behind them. They turned around to see Humphrey and Kate limp into view. Despite obviously being very sore, Humphrey had a wide grin on his face. Kate, however, was considerably less pleased.

"Man, that was awesome!" Humphrey said. "First, the ride over the cliff, then bouncing in that caribou stampede, then digging out of that pile and getting away before the humans got us. I can't remember having this much fun!"

"If you consider nearly being killed three times in one day fun," Kate said darkly.

"Hey, lighten up," Humphrey responded. "Last time I checked, I was the one that guy in the khakis tried to impale on a tripod, not you!"

Kate just rolled her eyes in disgust. She walked over to where Eve was looking after Lilly and sat down next to her sister, waiting for her turn to receive the healing ointment. Kate hated the sting of it as much as Lilly did, but didn't think she could possibly feel any worse than she currently felt.

"And what took you so long to get down to the valley today, young lady?" Eve said sternly to Kate. "Goofing off with Humphrey again while your sister is getting herself nearly killed, were you? I, for one, am very disappointed."

"It wasn't my fault!" Kate protested. "I tried to get down there as soon as I realized what was happening, but it was… it was…."

"It was?" Eve said, skeptical of whatever excuse she was sure Kate was about to offer.

Kate fell silent, too embarrassed to admit what had happened.

Humphrey decided to help his mate out. "She was doing those flippy-things and everything when the cameras distracted her and caused her to hit her head. Then she lost control and went tumbling down toward a cliff."

"Shhhh!" was Kate's embarrassed response.

Realizing that Kate did have a good reason for being late to the stampede, Eve's tone completely changed. "Oh, my poor baby, I'm so sorry. We'll fix you right up as soon as I get done with Lilly."

"You know, I saved Kate's life… twice…." Humphrey said, thinking this was his chance to finally gain Eve's trust and approval.

"Whatever, Garth," Eve said as she moved from Lilly to Kate.

Humphrey was stunned that, not only had Eve not paid attention to a word he said, she hadn't even noticed which son-in-law had said it. He immediately opened his mouth to correct her but then saw Winston silently shaking his head. Humphrey knew Winston was right, it wasn't worth risking life and limb to contradict Eve.

"Well," Winston said, "I think we can now conclude that these humans have outstayed their welcome. Now the question is, what do we do about them?"

Kate smiled for the first time that day. Something was finally going her way. "If you don't mind, dad, leave it to me."

* * *

**What was Kate planning?**

**Read on.**


	7. Things Overheard

**Chapter 7 of "Wolves on Film," part of Alpha and Omega: The Series**

**Credit for Editing and Beta-Reading goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves.**

* * *

It was night as Kate and Humphrey made their way through the leafy underbrush of a pleasant, yet somewhat removed, section of United Pack territory.

"We have to be careful and get this done quickly," Kate whispered to Humphrey.

"Kate, when am I ever not careful?" Humphrey said with a smirk.

Kate cringed as he stepped on a particularly loud twig.

"Okay, point taken," Humphrey said with an embarrassed grin.

Finally, they came out of the underbrush and into a clearing, where the humans had set up their camp. Kate and Humphrey scanned the small tents in which the camera-crew had lodged themselves.

"So which one do you think their boss's in, anyway?" Humphrey asked.

"I'm guessing… that one," Kate responded as she pointed toward a spot next to the tents where there stood an incredibly large RV, so large that it looked almost like a mansion on wheels. Kate silently signaled Humphrey to follow her.

Stealthily, they approached the camper. Well, Kate approached stealthily. Humphrey was too busy catching whiffs of the food which the crew was busy trying to cook over an open fire at the other end of the camp.

"Humphrey, Humphrey!" Kate whispered, trying to get her mate's attention back on the task at hand. While she normally found Humphrey's short attention span cute, at times like these it could still get on her nerves.

Humphrey turned his eyes away from the direction of the campfire and back toward Kate. "What? What did I miss?" he said.

Kate rolled her eyes and kept going.

"Now Humphrey, I want you to remember a few things when we get in there," she said as they neared the RV. "If it looks shiny, don't touch it. If it looks tasty, don't eat it. And if it looks like fun, definitely do not play with it!"

"Come on, Kate, when have I ever done anything like that in an RV?" Humphrey said as he came up next to her.

Kate paused long enough to give Humphrey a knowing look that communicated, 'Who do you think you're fooling?'

"On second thought, don't answer that," Humphrey said.

Just then, they reached an open window in the back of the camper. The only problem was that it was rather high off the ground.

"Okay, so what's your plan for getting up there?" Humphrey asked Kate.

"Stand under the window," Kate said simply.

Humphrey did as he was told but still couldn't figure out what was happening. "Okay, I'm here, but what does that – oh, wait, you're not going to… Kate, no!"

Kate had taken several steps backward and was revving herself up to charge. "Relax, I used to do this all the time with Lilly when we were pups."

"Why doesn't that encourage me?" Humphrey said as Kate broke into a run.

Within an instant, she had leapt from the ground, landed upon Humphrey, and bounced off of him up to – and through – the open window. But having the full weight and full force of a powerful Alpha on his back was too much for Humphrey. He felt his legs buckle under him as she came down on him and fell to the ground just after she kicked off.

Humphrey looked up from where he lay to see Kate peering at him from the window above. "Lilly always did better," she said gruffly.

Humphrey slowly forced himself up and stretched out his sore body.

"Okay, your turn," Kate said from above.

"Um, hello, I don't have anybody to jump on," Humphrey said. "And even if I did, I couldn't jump all the way up there."

Kate lowered herself partially out the window. "Come on, I'll help you. Just run and jump and I'll catch you."

"Um, can I just stay outside?" Humphrey said, not thrilled by the idea.

Kate shook her head. "Omegas…." she muttered.

Humphrey naturally did not want to disappoint his mate, so he closed his eyes and took a few steps back. Then, before he even felt he was ready, he broke into a run and made a jump. He barely made it halfway up, but Kate was able to catch him in her paws.

But there was a problem. She had put herself too far out of the window and both wolves were now in danger of falling to the ground outside. Just as they began to tumble, Kate was able to hook her back feet against a ledge. This stabilized her in the nick of time, giving her the chance she needed to recover and pull Humphrey up.

It was not an easy thing to do, and both wolves fell to the floor of the camper with a loud crash.

"So much for being quiet and careful," Humphrey said as he helped Kate to her feet.

But Kate wasn't really listening to him. Her ears were up and alert, carefully scanning the area for any sounds that might hint that the humans had heard the noise. Her nose twitched as she tried to pick up any new human scents. She quickly picked up the scent of Alexander Evans and heard his voice in another room. She tensed up.

But she relaxed as she heard another voice. While that normally would not relax her, it was clear that Evans was engaged in conversation and had not noticed the intrusion. Kate sighed in relief. She signaled Humphrey to be very quiet as they snuck past the room in which Evans stood.

"Now, try to find anything which will tell us the humans' plans," Kate whispered.

"How 'bout that?" Humphrey answered, pointing to a large board set up at the end of the central space.

Kate and Humphrey cautiously approached it.

"Hey, is that… us?" Humphrey said as he tilted his head.

On the board where pictures of Kate, Humphrey, Garth, and Lilly with various notes written under each one, describing Evans' observations and the character arc he was trying to plot for the movie.

Humphrey smiled when he saw his picture was the rightmost position. "At least they know who the star of the show is! Wait a second, that's not my name!"

Under each of the wolves' photos were the names which Evans had assigned them and by which he referred to them in the documentary. Humphrey was labeled as "Biff," Kate as "Suzie,' Garth as "Alonso," and Lilly as "Val."

"Well, let's be happy that the names are the only things they got wrong," Kate said, not really all that interested.

Suddenly, a large grin stretched across Humphrey's face. "Well, that's not the _only_ thing."

Kate looked up to see that, under each of their new names, were their Alpha and Omega designations. Garth and Lilly – or 'Alonso' and 'Val' as they were now being called, were both listed as Alphas. Humphrey and Kate, on the other hand, were listed as Omegas.

Kate growled in anger. "Me? An Omega? How dare they!"

"Well, it does make sense," Humphrey said, "since Alphas and Omegas couldn't mate until us, that the humans would naturally assume we're the Omega couple and Garth and Lilly are the Alpha couple."

"But why are _we_ the Omega couple?" Kate barked.

"Well, since we have both been acting pretty goofy and messing things up…." Humphrey began.

At this point, Kate turned at him, with a glare that practically dared him to finish the statement. Humphrey remembered the last time Eve had given him a glare like that. It did not end well.

So he decided to save himself. "Yeah, you're right, that's just wrong. I don't know what they were thinking when they came up with that."

Though Humphrey sounded less than sincere, this seemed to pacify Kate for the time being. She turned around and began to look for something.

"Okay, see if you can find any other information," Kate said. "I just got a little something to take care of."

"Okay, whatever you…. Whooaaaaaa! Kate!" Humphrey quickly grabbed Kate and pulled her away from the board. She had just wiped out the 'Omega' under her picture with her paw and, with a marker in her mouth, had started to write 'Alpha' in its place.

"We can't change anything!" Humphrey said. "You said it yourself, if they have any clue that somebody's been here, that's bad news for us!"

Kate let the marker drop from her mouth. As much as she hated to admit it, Humphrey was right. Ensuring the pack's safety, and their own, was more important than bandaging up her wounded pride. She let Humphrey wipe away 'Alpha' and replace it with 'Omega' once again.

By the time he had finished, he noticed Kate had gotten exceptionally quiet. He assumed it was merely out of embarrassment, but when Humphrey looked up, he noticed that Kate was frozen, her ears perked up and pointed in the direction of Alexander Evans' room. She was listening to the conversation. Humphrey started listening too.

Alexander Evans was communicating with someone on speaker-phone, and so this person's voice came through loud and clear. "Good work on that footage you sent us, boy. I'm thinking we can turn this into a ratings hit. It's got plenty of great, heart-pounding action with the main wolves and then we even got some comic relief with that Suzie of yours – always need a hapless sidekick, I say."

Humphrey chuckled at this. Kate promptly elbowed him harder than normal. "Be quiet, Biff," she whispered.

"You really think I did good, Uncle Albert?" Alexander said, beaming with pride.

"Good? Ha! Why, I think we'll show 'em all that when Albert Evans puts his money into something, there ain't nothing which can keep it from becoming a bonafide hit! And it's all 100% authentic!"

"Well, I did have to take things into my own hands here and there." Alexander said nervously. "I did have to stage a few things, spice it up a little…."

"I hope I'm not hearing what I'm hearing…." The voice on the other end of the line said disapprovingly.

Kate and Humphrey smiled to each other, hoping that Alexander Evans' game was up.

"If I were out there," Albert Evans continued from the other end of the line, "I'd have staged everything. Leave nothing to chance, my boy!"

"So… you're not mad?" Alexander responded. "What about that '100% authentic you were talking about?"

"That's only for the saps watching this garbage!" came his uncle's response. "Us, we're businessmen, and we know better than that. Son, I didn't become the largest media tycoon on the West Coast by playing fair and telling the truth. That's for the chumps who I buried to make it to the top."

"Yes, Uncle Albert, I know," Alexander Evans said, obviously having heard this lecture before.

"It's never been the way of our family to play the nice guys," Albert Evans continued. "We're the ones who have always taken everything we can get out of life… from whoever we could take it from!"

"I know, I know," was Alexander's quiet response.

"What did I always tell you?" Albert Evans asked from the other end of the line. "Remember that old pro-wrestling saying?"

"Yes, uncle."

The older man's voice continued to boom as he offered this piece of 'wisdom.' "Win if you can, lose if you must, but no matter what – always cheat!"

"Yes, you did say that. Often."

"Don't sound so gloomy," the uncle now said. "You'll have that Emmy of yours in no time. Most of the people on the awards committee owe me some 'favors' – and the rest can be bribed! You've already got it won!"

Alexander perked up upon hearing this. "Great! Fantastic! Stupendous!"

"Yes, but you still have to finish this thing up. Get me the footage for the grand finale so that we can finish this off right."

"Don't worry, I got some bears being trucked in – and you won't believe what's coming after that!"

Kate and Humphrey looked nervously toward one another. "Bears?" they said together.

"In fact, the boys should be dropping them off in the valley any time now," Alexander said.

"Excellent, excellent!" Albert Evans answered from the other end of the line. "But I just have one more piece of advice for you, nephew. You know what would really drive up the ratings, don't you? One of those wolves, preferably one of the four main ones, should die. I don't care how you do it, just kill one off!"

And then, the big man on the other end hung up, leaving Alexander standing in silence.

"Well, that doesn't sound good," Humphrey said. "Kate, I think we had better get out of here before– Kate!"

Kate had found one of the cameras and was busy pushing buttons. Humphrey could see over her shoulder that she had found clips of some of her most embarrassing moments. And he could also see that her paw was on the 'erase' button.

"Just give me a minute, Humphrey," Kate said, "I'm almost finished."

Then they both heard Alexander Evans begin to open his door and step into the main room.

"We don't have a minute!" Humphrey said. "We have to get out now!"

Kate and Humphrey quickly scurried behind the nearest couch. If Evans came over that way, the two wolves would not be difficult to spot. So, they both silently prayed that he would not come over that way.

And then, the door of the camper burst open. Lou rushed in.

"Boss, come quick!" he shouted.

"What is it now?" Alexander Evans said, already assuming it would be a waste of his time.

"We were trying to start a campfire and… and…."

"And?"

"We ended up setting all our tents on fire instead!"

Evans shrugged. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Um, we kinda left the newest footage in one of the tents," Lou answered as he braced himself for what was to come.

"What! You incompetent buffoons! I should have some of those wolves working on this thing instead of you! They would at least have some brains!"

"He doesn't have a point there," Humphrey whispered to Kate. She promptly shushed him.

But Evans was incensed. He pushed past Lou and out of the camper. The confused camera-man followed closely behind. Humphrey and Kate were now alone in the camper. But they did not stay for long. Both recognized that this was their chance to escape and together they burst into a run, darting with all possible speed from the camper into the surrounding woods.

As the fire of the campsite blazed behind them, both Humphrey and Kate remembered what Alexander Evans had said. The bears should be dropped off in the valley any time now. At that moment, one thought was shared by both their minds.

They hoped they weren't too late.

* * *

**Would Humphrey and Kate make it in time?**

**Read on.**


	8. The Number-One Threat

**Chapter 8 of "Wolves on Film," part of Alpha and Omega: The Series.**

**This is the penultimate chapter; there's only one more left after this!**

**Credit for Editing and Beta-Reading goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves.**

* * *

It did not take long for Kate and Humphrey to reach the valley. Despite the relatively short distance involved, their heightened anxiety took the breath out of both of them. But both also understood that there was no time to waste, they had to save their pack.

Kate darted about on the cliffs, looking for any sign of the humans or their bears. She could see none. For a brief moment, she thought that maybe the bears had not arrived after all.

"Maybe they got lost," Humphrey said as he came up behind her. "You know, they could have taken a wrong turn somewhere. I hear that happens sometimes when you're a ferocious half-crazed monster."

Kate chuckled a little. She was starting to think that, improbable as it was, Humphrey was right. Maybe the bears _had _gotten lost after all. But then she heard the horrible sound; a bear's loud, angry roar.

Her eyes immediately darted toward a somewhat hidden corner of the valley. And there, she saw everything. There were the camera-crews, there was the bear, a large brown creature that must have been eight feet tall. It seemed as though you would need to bring back the spirit of some Arkansas woodsman just to bring this thing down. And it was enraged, understandably, by suddenly waking up in the middle of somewhere not its home. Its teeth were all bared and its claws were flailing menacingly in the air.

And worst of all, Lilly was right under it. As its claws swung wildly at her, she dodged, left and right. "Come on, come on," she muttered under her breath as she weaved in and out, as though she was completely oblivious to the danger she was in.

Kate ran so quickly toward the ledge overlooking this scene that she did not notice the red blur running directly toward her. With a giant crash, both fell to the ground. Kate immediately jumped up to see Garth doing the same.

"Kate, have you seen Lilly?" Garth asked in panic, his eyes darting all around the cliffs.

"Take a look down there!" Kate responded, nudging her head toward the ledge.

Garth ran over swiftly and peered downward. "Lilly!" he shouted as he saw what was going on. He turned to Kate quickly. "We have to help her!"

And before either Kate or Humphrey could say something, Garth leapt from the ledge and landed in front of Lilly, just in time to take a rather nasty swipe in her place.

"Garth!" Lilly shouted as he fell to the ground. Then she looked back at the bear, with determination in her eyes. "You're going to pay for that, Mr. Bear! That's my mate you just messed with!"

Kate could not believe what she was seeing. "Lilly, what are you doing?" she whispered to herself.

"Come on, Kate, we gotta save her!" Humphrey said.

"I know," Kate responded, "but…." She nervously eyed the cameras that were focusing on the spectacle below.

"But nothing, Kate!" Humphrey said. "We have to do something or your sister's going to end up as white wolf-paste!"

As Humphrey looked into Kate's eyes, he could see some of her old spark roaring into a flame once again. "You're right, Humphrey," Kate said resolutely. "I'll go down there and defend Lilly. You think up something up here to distract the bear."

"Distract the bear?" Humphrey said. "What, so it'll come after me instead? Why do I always get the short end of the stick in your plans?"

"Humphrey, we both have to do whatever we can to save Lilly and Garth," Kate said. Then her mouth curved into a little smile. "Unless, of course, you'd rather be the one who takes the bear head on."

Humphrey smiled sheepishly. "No, no, no. Distracting him sounds good to me!"

Just then, they heard Garth, having apparently recovered, shout, "Get your filthy claws away from my mate! I'll tear you a new one if you dare hurt her!"

This was followed by the sound of the bear leveling Garth with another swipe.

Without another word, Kate took off. She pushed herself off the ground and floated backwards into the air. She glided gently over the ledge and began to spin her body gracefully while she lowered. As she came down head-first, she put out her forepaws and made contact with one of the crew-member's heads. She pushed off and landed on another crew member's head, but kicked off after having only barely touched it. Then she twirled around several times and landed in fighting pose right next to Lilly.

Kate took a moment to smile into the cameras. "I do all my own stunts," she said.

"Kate, what are you doing here?" Lilly called out in concern as she just narrowly avoided another swipe of the bear's claws.

"I'm saving your fluffy keister, that's what!" Kate barked back proudly.

"But Kate, this is no place for amateurs!" Lilly responded.

"Amateur? Who you calling amateur, sis?" Speaking these words, Kate dodged a slash from the bear and used the opportunity to leap onto its foreleg. When it pulled back in anger, it gave her the moment she needed to launch herself upward and deliver a dropkick straight to the bear's eye.

Meanwhile, up high above, Humphrey was looking for a distraction. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a collection of boulders in just the right position to be pushed off the ledge. "Hmm, those will work," he said to himself.

Down on the valley floor, the bear had been stunned for a second, but not beaten. Now, enraged even more, it made a mad dash for the two wolves. Kate just managed to push Lilly out of the way in time to avoid it and they proceeded to run in a circle as the bear chased after them. Finally, Kate noticed the opening she needed. She grabbed onto Lilly and went for another leap, taking them both high into the air. She flipped around in time to land upon the bear's head and kick off, finally landing behind him. The combatants had thus returned to their original positions.

"Kate, I think I'm gonna be sick!" Lilly said as she wobbled woozily.

"Then throw up on Garth, not on me!" Kate responded, pointing to the red Alpha who was slowly getting back to his feet. Then looked to the ledge above. "Humphrey, where's that distraction we talked about?"

"I'm… working… on it… Kate…. Just… give me… a sec," came Humphrey's voice. With a second, he had appeared, carrying a large rock from the boulder pile in his paws.

Once he had gotten to the edge of the ledge, Humphrey said, "Okay, bear, I've got a little present for you. I hope you like it, because I don't do returns!"

And then, with all his strength, he lobbed the rock off the ledge and toward the bear.

Garth forced himself to his feet and tried to shake off the results of multiple blows. "Okay, bear," he said, "you asked for it. Now I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't ever forget!"

At this exact moment, Humphrey's rock made contact with his skull, knocking him back to the ground and into unconsciousness.

"Humphrey, that wasn't funny!" Kate shouted.

"I didn't mean to do that, honest!" Humphrey protested from the ledge. "That really was a complete accident!"

But Kate did not have time to press the point, because the bear was still doing its best to maul Lilly and she. They had to keep moving or they would not live to argue another minute.

"Hey, Kate," Lilly said casually as they were dodging and weaving for their very lives, "how can you do all this stuff again? I thought you were too terrified of the cameras."

And suddenly, Kate paused, frozen. She looked to see all the cameras once again focused on her. And all the old feelings, the old anxieties, came flooding back. Her jaw dropped and her face went blank. She did not know what to do.

So she turned to Lilly. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" she said.

It was a critique that would cost her, for a second later, she felt the full force of the bear's blow knock her back into Lilly, sending them both sprawling to the ground. Kate looked up just in time to see the bear approaching, preparing to give the killing blow.

"Kate, what do we do now?" Lilly asked in panic.

Kate looked to the bear and then looked to the cameras behind the bear. She could not think with those cameras focused on her. She just could not think.

"I don't know, Lilly, I just don't know!" she said, panic also rising in her voice.

"You know, maybe having those camera-people around was a bad idea after all!" Lilly suggested.

"You can say that again!" Kate exclaimed. Indeed, she herself had been saying it since the moment the wolves realized that humans were in their valley, but the last few seconds of life seemed like a poor time to argue with Lilly over quibbles.

"This is gonna be awesome!" said one of the camera-crew. "The boss wanted one wolf dead, and we're gonna give him three!"

Just then, however, there was a noise from the ledge above, the noise of something large and heavy being pushed over the rocky ground. It became louder and louder, to the point where even the bear paused to look and see what it was. He looked up just in time to witness the giant boulder make contact with his face.

Kate let out a sigh of relief as the bear toppled to the ground, defeated at last. Then she looked to the ledge above to see Humphrey standing there, giving her a thumbs-up gesture with each paw. She chuckled and returned a thumbs-up sign of her own.

Lilly ran to Garth as soon as Kate got off of her. He was just beginning to come-to again. Lilly helped him get back to his feet.

"How did I do?" he asked. "Good?"

"You were amazing!" Lilly said, without lying. Even though he had spent most of the fight on the ground, anything he did was amazing in her eyes.

"Oh, yeah," Garth said, starting to regain some of his cockiness. "It must have been one awesome fight! I'd probably remember more of it if I didn't have this splitting headache."

Then he saw the bear knocked out on the ground, with the rubble of the boulder lying all around it.

"Yeah, you better stay down, bear!" he shouted victoriously. "There's plenty more where that came from!"

At this point, Humphrey reached them, having taken a pathway down the ledge. He offered a high-three to Kate, which she promptly returned. Then he offered one to Lilly, which she returned. And then he offered one to Garth. Garth just glared at him.

Humphrey quickly took down his paw. "Okay, okay, never mind. We'll take a rain-check on that one."

Then he turned back to Kate. "Well, I'm glad that's over," he said with a laugh. "I don't think there's anything which the humans can throw at us worse than that!"

By this time, Alexander Evans had joined the crew, a badly-burnt Lou and Gary trailing behind him. "Knuckle-draggers!" he blustered. "You've done it all wrong! You've practically ruined the whole bear segment! See what happens when I leave you without proper guidance? You can't do anything right! But at least I still have the animal I was saving for my grand finale! Just got it in from Africa today. This is gonna be the biggest life-or-death struggle yet!"

The wolves were listening in. "Why don't I like the sound of that?" Kate said.

"Come on, Kate," Humphrey said with a smile, "after overcoming a bear, I don't think there's really anything too big for us!"

And then, the ground began to tremble. Lilly lost her balance and fell to the ground as the whole valley shook. Garth quickly grabbed onto her. Humphrey grabbed Kate's shoulder to keep himself from falling. Even she was having a difficult time staying steady. Something was coming, big and loud. It was taking giant steps toward them, steps which could shake the whole world.

And then, as soon as it began, the trembling halted. The thing was right in front of them now. Kate looked up to see what they up against.

"Well, that's a new one," she said as the eyes of all four wolves grew wide.

Before them stood the fearsome figure of a giant, grey, sharp-tusked elephant.

* * *

**How would our heroes overcome this new threat and rid the valley of those pesky humans once and for all?**

**Read on.**


	9. That's a Wrap!

**Chapter 9 of "Wolves on Film," part of Alpha and Omega: The Series.**

**Here's the big finale! And it's going to be one wild ride! **

**If you enjoyed this story, please check out the other stories in the Series and follow our community and forum.**

**Credit for Editing and Beta-Reading goes to Dancing Lunar Wolves.**

* * *

The four wolves looked up at the elephant, never having seen such a large or such a strange creature in person before. As it was, none of them knew how to respond.

"Kate, what do we do?" Humphrey whispered.

Kate maintained her composure as best she could. "When I say run…. Run!"

The elephant blared a trumpeting noise with its trunk. The wolves ran. The elephant ran. Alexander Evans ordered his men to run, while he walked at a leisurely pace behind them.

"Um, boss, I don't remember hearing that elephants live in Canada," Lou said to Evans.

Evans sneered. "They don't."

"Then how can we have an–"

Evans did not let him finish the sentence. "You think the people watching this drivel have any clue where elephants come from? No! They aren't smart enough to know or care. As long as they see things die, they'll be happy! Now go after it!"

The elephant ran surprisingly fast for such a large creature. Though Kate and Garth had the ability to outrun him, Lilly and Humphrey did not. And since they could not abandon their mates, the two Alphas had to hold themselves back and thus could not get any distance from their terrible pursuer.

"Any plans this time, Kate?" Humphrey said as they ran.

"Give me a minute, I'm thinking!" Kate answered.

One of the elephant's feet crashed down just behind Humphrey's tail.

"Yeah, we don't have a minute," Humphrey said, as casually as he could manage.

Lilly was falling behind and getting dangerously close to the giant in pursuit. She tried not to look back too often, but she knew it was closing in on her. And then she saw a black circular shadow spread around her. It could only mean one thing. She looked up in horror to see the giant foot coming down right over her head.

And then, she felt a great rush as she was pushed aside. Looking up, she saw Garth holding onto her as they tumbled to the ground. Behind him, the foot came down with a mighty stomp and shook the valley for miles around.

"Garth, you saved me!" Lilly said.

"Don't I always?" Garth responded. "I mean this and the bear… it's getting to be a pattern!"

Lilly smiled knowingly, since she remembered how the bear-fight actually went down. But this idyllic moment was ruined when she noticed above Garth that the angry elephant was turning and lifting its leg again. The red and white couple was its target and, tangled as they had become, it was not easy for them to regain their footing. It seemed as though even Garth's strength and speed would not get them out of this one.

"We have to do something!" Kate said. "Lilly and Garth are going to be squashed if we don't!"

"But you know, is that such a bad thing?" Humphrey quipped. "I mean, with the way Garth acts all the time, I think he could use some_straightening out!_"

"Humphrey!"

"Joking! I was just joking! Of course I want to save Lilly!"

Kate gave him a reproachful look. He smiled bashfully. "Okay, and Garth, too!"

Kate prepared to spring into action. But by now, the camera-crew had arrived and she could see all of those cameras clearly focusing all of their attention on the elephant, on Lilly and Garth, and – most terribly of all – on her. She let out a little sound, not unlike a mouse, and froze up completely.

"Kate, we don't have time to be nervous!" Humphrey said, the anxiety rising in his voice. "Your sister and her mate are about to be crushed!"

But it was as though Kate was no longer there. She just stared blankly ahead and did not even seem to notice her mate talking in front of her. There was no sense of any emotion in her other than a binding fear of the dread cameras.

Humphrey knew he could not get through to her now. As much as he hated the idea, he knew that he'd have to do the saving himself. He quickly ran over to where the elephant was about to crush Lilly and Garth and scooped up a pawful of pebbles. He began to throw them one by one at the grey creature.

Just as the creature's foot was about to make red and white pancakes, he felt the pebbles hit his skin. Not that these were much more than an annoyance to the giant, but he was not in the mood to be trifled with. He let Lilly and Garth be for the time being and turned to see who dared disturb its rampage.

He saw Humphrey smiling and waving at him.

"Now that I've got your attention," Humphrey said, "I thought maybe you'd like to hear a joke or two? How about this one: Why did the elephant cross the jungle? Give up, he he?"

The elephant was not in a very humorous humor and, instead of playing along, swiped Humphrey with its powerful trunk. Lilly and Garth had just been getting up and trying to get out of the elephant's path when Humphrey came flying into them, sending all three crashing into a nearby rock-wall.

The elephant approached them, ready to finish off the three annoyances once and for all.

Whether it was seeing her family hurt or hearing the sickening sound of the rock-wall partially give way, Kate broke out of her daze. She realized that things looked bleak for her family. The three had taken a major blow and would not be ready or able to escape the monster. She would have to be the one to save them.

As usual.

But then Kate looked over to the camera-crew filming everything with interest.

How could she possibly do anything with them watching her every move? They made her so nervous, so nervous she could not concentrate. She could not do anything to save them.

But, deep inside her, she knew she had to. She could not let her family be crushed merely because she was afraid of looking foolish. Kate loved them too much; she could not do that. Her own pride was nothing next to their safety and well-being. She had to do something.

So, with the cameras fully turned on her, she leapt high into the air.

Kate landed on the elephant's back and ran up his spine, careful to avoiding being thrown off-balance by his lumbering movements. When she reached his head, she knew she only had seconds before he would try to shake or scoop her off. But it was all she needed. As the massive trunk came flying at her, she leapt toward it and grasped it in her powerful jaws. She used it to swing herself – and consequentially turn the elephant – away from where her mate, sister, and brother-in-law lay.

As Kate spun onto her feet, she saw that this had done the trick. The enraged elephant now turned its attention away from her family and was focused solely on her.

Kate glanced briefly over at the cameras and then back at the elephant. Her eyes narrowed and she smiled. "Let's play," she said.

The elephant charged, but Kate was faster. Using her refined senses, she was able to tell the exact moment it lifted a foot to run and was already leaping through the air. The elephant stampeded wildly after her, but Kate could now utilize her full speed as she ricocheted through the valley. She kept far ahead of him. But he was in too aggravated a state to notice. Which was just what Kate wanted.

The first part of her plan could not be brought to fruition. She saw the camera-crew following her and the elephant, trying to capture every moment of this strange spectacle of might and agility. She was about to give a shot they'd never forget. Bouncing off a rock, she made a sharp right turn and came flying straight toward them. It was not the flying wolf that made them lose nerve, but rather the surprisingly fast giant elephant running behind her. It was enough to make them all drop their cameras as they scurried for whatever safety they could find.

Alexander Evans cursed them for ruining his perfect shots and his valuable equipment, but he did not have long to complain. For he soon felt Kate's back feet make contact with his chest and was sent flying. Kate, for her part, used the momentum from the dropkick to propel herself to the top of the ridge.

She saw the human's camp in the distance. Now it was time for the second part of her plan. She waited for the elephant. She had to wait for this to work. The elephant was undeterred. Using that sizeable intelligence for which the species is famed, he found the nearest strong pathway up and continued his pursuit.

Kate laughed as she kicked back into the air. The elephant was rampaging toward her, but she had this. She knew what she was doing.

Behind them, Alexander Evans and his cronies were coming along as well, every one of them filled with panic, shouting words of shock and horror.

But Kate did not truly hear them. She was in the zone.

And then, as the elephant was about to hit her, she leaped out of the way. Instead, the elephant gored through the wall of Alexander Evans' camper, plowing it off its wheels and causing it to roll with terrible force through the tents which made up the humans' camp.

"No!" Evans screeched. "My priceless camper! And all the equipment! All the footage! Somebody, get in there and stop that elephant!"

The elephant, having demolished most of the camp in one stroke, was newly provoked by the sound of Evans' voice. It turned and approached the humans madly.

"Stop it!" Evans yelled. "Stop it before it reaches us!"

Gary shook his head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, I've been nearly attacked by wolves and stampeded by caribou for this job, but there's no way I'm standing in front of a raging elephant!"

"Do this, or you get no college credit!" Alexander Evans responded.

"There is no college credit worth this!" Lou chimed in. "Besides, I didn't want to even go to college in the first place! My parents made me! I wanted to be a crab-fisherman, not a film student! And I'm not going to die to be one! Everybody, let's get outta here!"

With those words, the human crew took off and did not stop running until they had left Jasper National Park far behind. All that was left of them was Alexander Evans, defiant and determined to have his own way.

"Look here, you brute!" he shouted at the approaching elephant. "I am Alexander Evans, of the California Evanses, and we always get what we want, no matter what! We can buy you and we can sell you! In fact, that's what I did! So you belong to me! Now, stand down!"

The elephant merely unleashed another furious blare from its trunk and moved to squash Evans. It was only the speed of a lupine bullet which saved his life. Kate had pushed him away just in the nick of time. But she quickly bounded out of sight before either Evans or the elephant realized what had happened.

She was not going to become the target of the elephant's renewed fury or, perhaps more frighteningly, a likely lawsuit from Alexander Evans.

But Evans had gotten the message. He knew not what had saved him, but he realized how close to death he had come, and he was not ready to face it again. He took off screaming, with the elephant close behind him. As he was being chased, Evans frantically called the park rangers and his contacts to try and find somebody who could save him from the furious creature bearing down on him.

Kate had a feeling that the wolves would not be seeing Alexander Evans again.

* * *

What became of Alexander Evans after that was difficult to say. Kate had followed them at a safe distance to ensure that Evans would not be killed. He may have been a horrible man, but Kate did not want human blood on her paws. Nor another possible lawsuit from his crooked family members. However, she knew that he must be safe when he disappeared into a cave that was too small for the elephant to follow but too strong for the elephant to knock down. And he tried. He did try. Kate feared that she had to stop him before he caused some major collateral damage.

But then, to her horror, she noticed someone else had beaten her to the attempt.

"Lilly!" Kate screamed as she saw her sister sit down patiently behind the rampaging monster.

"Um, M-M-Mr. Ele-elephant," Lilly said, nervously but, surprisingly, loud enough for the rage-maddened creature to hear.

He turned around. Recognizing the distinctive white wolf from earlier, he decided to finish the job he had begun before. He began to lift up his giant foot.

But Lilly did not move. Instead, she smiled shyly and pulled a paw out from behind her back to reveal a flower – her namesake white lily.

"Please don't do anything to hurt us or our home," she said sweetly. "We weren't responsible for taking you away from yours. That bad man was and he has been trying to destroy ours too. We don't mean any harm to you and we'll try to help you get back home if you just stop trying to stomp us."

The confused creature took up the lily in its massive trunk and considered it. Finally, he accepted the offering and seemed pacified.

Kate smiled at seeing her sister back to her old, sweet, and shy self. And she figured it would not be difficult to get the elephant home, despite the massive distances involved. As she remembered it, Marcel and Paddy owed her a favor….

And then, there was a round of screaming from inside the cave. "No! No!" Alexander Evans screamed. "Please no, you soulless monster! Leave me – ugh!"

Now Eve stepped out of the cave, dragging an unconscious and bloody Evans behind her. "That's right, and the bad man won't be hurting any of us anymore. I was in here collecting some herbs when he just came in and started taunting me. All I can say is that I'm glad he didn't have his camera, so that the children at home couldn't see what I did next."

Clearly, she had no fear of any possible lawsuit.

Kate now arrived beside Lilly. They shared grimaces at their mom's usual violent methods. But, if nothing else, it meant that things were back to normal in Jasper National Park. The strange daydream-turned-nightmare was at an end.

* * *

Marcel and Paddy had reluctantly accepted the assignment of returning an elephant to Africa, complaining all the while about how their wolf friends thought they were some sort of long-distance mail service. Evans had been evacuated out of the vicinity by the rangers. Doctors soon learned that he had a serious case of amnesia regarding the time he had been out in the wilderness. And for some reason, he kept screaming about hallucinations of a stocky brown wolf with dagger-sharp fangs and eyes consisting of flames. It was deemed he would need to be kept under observation for a while. As for the wolves of Jasper, they knew peace again.

Humphrey, Kate, Garth, and Lilly walked through the valley as the sun set behind them, trying to relax and unwind after the long adventure.

Kate smiled confidently. "Well, at least we finally got those humans out of our fur."

"Come on, Kate, they weren't that bad," Humphrey responded.

"Humphrey, they nearly got us all killed…. Several times," Garth said; his patience with the Omega short, as usual.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Humphrey said with a large smile as he looked at Garth over his shoulder.

"So, does this mean we won't be television-stars now?" Lilly asked quietly, disappointment apparent in her voice.

"I'm afraid not, Lilly," Kate said. "Actually, I'm glad not. It really isn't our type of life."

But, despite these sisterly words of wisdom, Lilly still seemed depressed.

"Cheer up, Lilly," Humphrey said. "Who wants to be a TV star anyway? I mean, it is so much work with all those interviews and public appearances and the eighteen hour days and the non-stop shooting schedule. Much better to live the simple life of hunting caribou and log-sliding, and just hanging out in good ol' Jasper!"

Lilly smiled at Humphrey's logic.

"I'll second that!" Kate said.

Even Garth added, "And, for once, I'll third tha- Dad?"

Sure enough, there was Tony, appearing slowly over a nearby hill.

"Garth, there you are!" he said gruffly. "I haven't seen you in days!"

"Oh, yeah," Garth said quietly, trying to avoid his father's eyes. "We've just… we've just been busy with some pack business around the valley."

"What, too busy to visit your old man?" Tony responded with traces of sarcasm. "How can that be? Nothing ever happens here!"

The four younger wolves exchanged knowing looks. "You're right dad, _nothing_ ever happens here," Garth said timidly but with traces of sarcasm of his own.

But as he turned to his father, he realized that something seemed wrong with the picture. "Hey, what are you doing out of your den? The healers said–"

"The healers finally said I could come out and get some air. They figure my back has had enough days to rest up."

"That's… that's great… dad."

Tony nodded. "I'll say it's great. I was going stir-crazy in there. I kept thinking I was hearing all these weird noises. A caribou stampede, a bear, even an elephant! Can you imagine that? An elephant!"

"No, I really can't," Garth said as he exchanged nervous looks with Lilly.

And then, to everyone's surprise, Tony picked something up from behind the hill. "I've been having a great time since getting out. I even managed to find this not too far away. Some human must have dropped it or something. I think it still works."

The object he held was revealed to be a large camera.

Tony smiled as he studied it. "You know, as much as I don't like the humans, I've always wondered how these camera things work. What do you say we try it out? Maybe I can get some clips of you and Lilly and the other two?"

Humphrey, Kate, Lilly, and Garth all put on fake smiles.

"Sounds great and all, Tony," Humphrey said, "but I think we'll all pass. We're the last wolves you'd ever see in front of a camera!"

Kate, Lilly, and Garth all chuckled in agreement.

* * *

**Next Time on Alpha and Omega: The Series**

* * *

**A heinous crime, a suspicious scene, and chilling clues.**

**An evil mastermind is clearly at work in Jasper Park.**

**And the evidence point to the only wolf who could have done such a despicable deed...**

**Lilly? ****_Lilly?_**

**Is she truly guilty of such a crime?**

**Or is there a stranger mystery hidden within Jasper's snow-covered hills and dales?**

**Find out next time in**

**"Lilly on Trial."**


End file.
